Effect Of Simultaneous Working Length Control During Root Canal Preparation Versus Electronic Apex Locator On Postoperative Pain in Teeth With Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis (a Randomized Clinical Trial)

During preparation of root canals, loss of working length (WL) can lead to instrumentation beyond the predefined apical limit of the preparation. This effect is mainly attributed to straightening of the root canal during instrumentation. Some studies showed, that this kind of over instrumentation as well as under instrumentation can adversely affect the outcome of the endodontic treatment. Furthermore, all endodontic instruments produce apical extrusion of debris, even when the preparation is kept within the confines of the root canal. Consequently, preparations ending in the periapical tissue will produce a greater amount of debris extrusion that could result from an irritation of the periodontal ligament with subsequent postoperative symptomatic apical periodontitis. Therefore, it seems favorable to control the determined WL during root canal preparation to avoid preparations ending in the periapical tissue.

Endodontic motors with integrated apex locators offer a solution to the described problem as they have been developed with the intention of making root canal treatment easier and faster. Besides torque and speed control, these devices also aim to continuously monitor and control the apical limit all the way through the mechanical preparation of the root canals and have an auto apical reverse (AAR) function that stops and reverse the rotation when the file tip reaches the predetermined apical limit of the preparation.

E-CONNECT S (Eighteeth medical technology Co., Ltd, china) is an endomotor with integrated apex locator newly introduced in the market with continuous WL measuring function. It contains an optional module for rotary instrumentation, allowing the device to function as a low-speed hand piece, apex locator, or a combination of both. This motor has an attention-grabbing property that when an instrument reaches the predetermined working length, the motor automatically stops the instrumentation. Thus, it can be concluded that automatically stopping instrumentation when the instrument reaches the working length would decrease postoperative pain compared with manually controlling the working length by using stoppers during instrumentation (separate length determination and root canal preparation).

The Root ZX (J Morita, Tokyo, Japan) is a third generation EAL where no calibration is necessitated, and a microprocessor analyzes the impedance quotient. It uses multiple frequencies to calculate the distance from the end of the canal. To measure location within the canal, third generation units (including Root ZX EAL) still use impedance measurements but have stronger microprocessors and can process the mathematical quotient and algorithm calculations required to obtain accurate readings. The change in electrical capacitance at the apical constriction is the basis for the operation of the Root ZX and its reported accuracy, even in presence of different electrolytes in the canal and under different clinical conditions; that's why it is considered the most commonly used apex locator.